Chapter 22 Chapter 22
Black Mask escaped, but apart from the indignation of the Penguin who was abandoned because of a single wrong move, there was no other commotion in Arkham. You know, other criminals have long been accustomed to this kind of gap. Even if they all want to escape from Arkham Asylum, there are only a few "lucky ones" almost every time. Or maybe the word "lucky" should not be used to describe their strength and strategy, which seems a bit disrespectful.
After all, criminals admire absolute power the most. If you have extraordinary talent, strength and wisdom, you only need to raise your arm and others will respond and follow you. In many cases, there will be people who will actively attach themselves to you and offer help without even a call.
In addition to a very small number of real mental patients in Arkham, the majority of people who have escaped to Blackgate Prison by various means and then became mentally ill and came here have all had clean criminal records, including robbery, murder, kidnapping, extortion, arson, trafficking in contraband, human experiments... etc. They are themselves scum of failed socialization, and naturally believe in the supremacy of strength.
This also led to Black Mask forming a new gang directly after escaping Arkham, at an incredible speed. For Penguin, that only made him more furious, and he even blamed the Riddler for it.
The Riddler said that he didn't really want to be hated by a gangster boss, so he directly handed Megan to him, hoping to calm him down a little. In order to take Megan away from Killer Croc, he raised his finger and swore to be responsible for her studies, so he also left her homework book to the Penguin.
His shameless action shocked the Penguin, but the Riddler ran fast, so he couldn't vent his anger. Then he looked at the child in his cell and fell into deep thought.
Penguin still had some moral bottom line, and there was no point in arguing with an ignorant child. He sat at the table and guzzled his tea. Seeing Megan still holding her homework book, looking around with her head down, looking a little bewildered, he relaxed his tone and said, "What that idiot did has nothing to do with you, Megan."
After a slight hesitation in his tone, he sighed, "Come sit down and finish your homework."
He used to use a commanding tone, but Megan didn't understand. She sat down obediently, but her eyes rarely turned to the Penguin, landing on his lapel. Although she still didn't look at him, the Penguin saw that she was trying to express herself, but she was too timid and shy, and she refused to speak.
And these were just small problems. The Penguin Man glanced at the things in front of her and asked, "No pen, right? Well, I knew they were a bunch of losers! They can't even handle a small thing." He cursed, proving that he was still a little angry, but he didn't swear at the child.
After scolding all those useless inmates, he lowered his head, took out an expensive and exquisite pen from his coat pocket, and gave it to Megan, watching her quietly do her homework.
The Penguin sat for a while, still in a rage. He stood up and paced back and forth in the cell, but there was no solution to his current predicament. Black Mask had escaped and blocked the only loophole they had found, so he couldn't get out! He also brutally killed the birds he had raised to tip him off!
Being tricked by Black Mask certainly made him lose face, but he was also worried about the business outside. Black Mask would definitely not miss this excellent opportunity and would try to erode his industry and manpower. This was unbearable for the Penguin. Although his loyal subordinates would not let this happen, he just couldn't swallow this.
He paced back and forth like a trapped animal, almost swinging his cane to smash everything in the cell, but when he saw a child doing homework there out of the corner of his eye, he slowly lowered his raised arm.
He was so annoyed that he had to stand next to Megan's seat to see that she had done her homework well.
The Penguin nodded. She was a good kid and didn't seem stupid. Although her learning progress was just at the level of an average child, as a child adopted by the Joker and raised in Arkham, it was comforting that she could focus on learning instead of some bad things and skills.
He watched Megan finish copying and then finishing her math homework. There were no other subjects. After all, her little head had limited capacity and couldn't hold too many things.
Learning isn't something that happens overnight; it's a slow process that progresses day after day. And then there's Megan's mental state. The Penguin turned and stared at her. This was a child who was fearless because of her ignorance. She didn't understand the world yet, and her speed of acceptance and understanding was much slower than that of ordinary people. As for whether it was a good thing or a bad thing for her to be taken to Arkham by the Joker...
A gentle expression appeared on that fat, crowded face. His anger and impatience subsided unconsciously. The Penguin Man said to himself, perhaps muttering, "It's hard to say whether things in this world are absolutely good or bad, kid, you know?"
"The rainy and humid weather and some hysteria... they make up a twisted person. Perhaps those experiences seemed unbearable at the time, even driving people crazy, but they all passed in the end..."
"They're all gone, leaving me alone."
A mentally ill person cannot enlighten another mentally ill person, especially when he is a criminal - he is too clear about this fact and knows completely rationally what path he is on, but just as he has gone through the past, it has shaped him, and he cannot overturn his past self. This is unsolvable.
Megan finished her homework, and the Penguin slowly poured her a cup of hot tea and placed it in front of her, along with some cookies made by the chef he had planted in Arkham. After all, he was not that loser like Two-Face, who knew the food here was bad but still had to endure it.
Of course, these extra things were provided only for him by the specially hired chef.
His cell was quiet. The white steam rising above the teacup easily attracted the attention of a child. Her clear green eyes stared at it, motionless and without making any sound. Her presence was very low. The Penguin Man sat on the other side, but did not ignore her.
Seeing the child taking his time drinking tea and eating biscuits, he stood up, picked up his cane again, and carefully adjusted his clothes to ensure that every corner was fit. However, his perspective changed and he suddenly felt a little uncomfortable with Megan's shoddy clothes that were made from prison uniforms.
Whose craftsmanship could be so bad? Perhaps the Joker had his prison uniform altered by his men, but the average person's sewing skills were appallingly poor. They could only stitch together a few pieces of fabric, and even hemming in the edges was considered ingenious.
So Megan has black hair and green eyes. Although she is not beautiful, she is young and cute, but she is wearing rough orange clothes.
His eyes looked a little strange, and he was thinking deeply about something. After a while, he said to Megan, "Let's go. I'll take you back to your daddy."
The Penguin walked in front, but he was sure that Megan would catch up. After all, she lacked subjectivity and initiative, and needed someone to make demands on her and arrange everything. Therefore, he knew that Megan's self-awareness was pitifully small, just like the Joker said, a 'clockwork puppet'.
He sent Megan to the entrance of the Joker's cell, then raised his cane and waved it forward, signaling Megan to go back by herself. Even though he had some good intentions, he was not her bodyguard!
Megan was still trying to understand. The hair on her forehead was a little long, and sometimes when the wind blew, it would get into her eyes, making her blink uncontrollably.
She shook her head, and suddenly, accidentally, her eyes met the Penguin Man, who was not much taller than her...
She was stunned.
This fat, eccentric, and bad-tempered criminal, his figure and face reflected in the monocle on his nose, was keenly aware of what was happening. He fell into deep thought, and finally suppressed his ferocity and malice, reluctantly pulling his lips to reveal an expression that could perhaps be called gentle.
The Penguin said under Megan's blank yet helpless gaze, "There's nothing to be afraid of, kid. You should be thankful that your backer is the Joker, even if... at least he protects you."
So would the Joker be moved by a child's trust and dependence? Of course not! He is a completely unpredictable, crazy and chaotic madman. He is like the embodiment of evil. He has brought huge bloodshed and death to the city since he came to Gotham. He just wants to have fun and to practice the crazy delusions in his heart. The Joker is an absolutely self-centered person.
So this was just what Penguin said to coax Megan, but it is better to give her temporary comfort than nothing. A child's childhood should not have such twists and turns, and should not have such tragedies.
He knows that he is a villain and a bad guy, but he doesn't mind doing some things that are not disgusting and showing a little tolerance and kindness to the people he admires and pities.
Nothing could be seen on Megan's face or in her eyes, but her movements were awkward. It was unknown whether she had listened to the Penguin's words or not, but her gaze slowly shifted away from him, then drifted back again, as if it was the first time until today, until now, that she had seen someone other than the Joker. But in fact, the Joker was not a 'person' in her heart, but a different kind of existence.
So this was the first time she observed a 'human', another individual.
Even though she had interacted with people before, she didn't care, didn't see, and didn't pay attention at all.
The Penguin felt a sense of confusion from her. She observed it and tried to build up her cognition, but it was difficult. She could not understand or grasp it for the time being, so she was at a loss.
Wanting to create a better image for himself, the Penguin Man walked forward, but still kept a safe distance to ensure that he would not scare the child away. He clasped his hands together, held his cane in front of him, and leaned forward slightly, which was a friendly gesture.
When he smiled, the deep nasolabial folds caused by obesity would push his monocle upwards, making his already swollen eyes even smaller and more ferocious. His image was not friendly at all.
The Penguin said: "Then let me introduce myself to you again, Oswald Cobblepot, my name is."
"I am the head of the Cobblepot family and the owner of the Iceberg Restaurant. I have all the wealth and power, but I just lack a little bit of luck. But that's not a big problem - it's inevitable to encounter setbacks in life, especially with that bat freak. Of course, I have other enemies, but they don't rank high."
When he was introducing himself, Megan kept looking into his eyes. Even though she was fearless out of ignorance, Penguin recognized her courage because she was not scared by his appearance or laughed out loud. She was a polite child.
But there was really nothing to say to each other. The Penguin thought that he didn't really want to take care of the child. He finished his words. However, before leaving, seeing that Megan didn't resist, he gently touched her head. He rarely did such a tender thing. He rubbed the child's head and shook it back and forth, messing up her hair.
The Penguin pretended not to see anything, but when he saw the Joker coming out of his cell out of the corner of his eye, he turned around and left without any hesitation, not even wanting to say hello.
The clown had no awareness of his own unpopularity and said in an exaggerated manner: "Dear Cobblepot, won't you stay and talk to me? You know, I am more talkative than her. We will definitely have a great chat."
As he spoke, the muscles on his face were pulled upwards, creating countless deep wrinkles and making his expression even more ferocious.
Self-centered
He watched the Penguin leave, and finally lowered his gaze to meet Megan's, who was looking up at him with difficulty. The Joker's smile at this moment was filled with wild malice, but Megan seemed to be unaware of it and walked over to stick close to his legs. This boring reaction made the Joker's face fall, and he turned around and went back to the cell.
The author has something to say:
One day I was talking to my friend: I often think about a question. For example, in the world of DC and Marvel, superheroes and villains all have their own iconic outfits. Superheroes either have the ability to make money (Batman and Iron Man) or they make their own clothes and clothes (Spider-Man). But when it comes to the superhero villain, when I think about the superhero villain having to get his clothes custom-made, I think they are quite exquisite. If the high-end designer dies, their world will fall apart ()
Friend: I suddenly thought of a scene where a group of villains were sewing clothes together and exchanging experiences, and the new villain was shocked when he saw his predecessors sewing clothes together.
She also wrote a short play for me, as follows:
Why we should do it ourselves
[Because the previous haute couture master was fired]
Can't you find someone else?
[Yes, but first, do you have money? ]
We are villains, super villains, and we want to pay
[You're overthinking it. You're just a bad guy at best. How can you compare to the unforgivable seniors above you? Aside from the couture tailor who was poached, the rest have already been bought up by the big guys above you. You want to avoid spending money... hehe]
Damn, why are so many superheroes' clothes all custom-made? Aren't they all rich?
[Haha, it's impossible that all those sanctimonious-looking guys are rich. After all, most rich people value their lives, except for that high-profile guy.]
Could it be that the seniors over there will support the juniors?
[Of course there are other reasons...]
What's the reason?
【They can take endorsements】
Outrageous but reasonable.
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